Services Catalogue and Training Brochure Do you want to… * Meet your obligations under the disability Discrimination Act (DDA) / the Disability Equality Duty * Increase turnover * Improve your customers trust and respect in you * Improve your customers perception of you * Acknowledge your Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) * Avoid costly legal action * Open up your services to an £18bn market * Have a balanced work force which reflects the demographics of your customer base * Contribute to an inclusive society Contents Why use nimbus services?4Training Programmes5Disability Equality Training7The Disability Discrimination Act8Employing Disabled People9Services10Access Audits11Quality Mark12Advice Line13Mediation14Casework, representation & professional witness15Mystery Shopper16Breakfast Briefings17No Limits Network18Events Organising19General Consultation20nimbus background21Disability Direct Background23Booking and contact details24 Why? Why are these services important to you? As a service provider it is your legal obligation not to treat people less fairly because of disability, but, like most legislation, this isn’t necessarily as straightforward as it sounds. Understanding this legal framework is vital to avoid claims of discrimination. Having the understanding generated from these services can also increase income, reputation and make for a better, more well-balanced workforce. Believe it or not but at the last count disabled people had a combined annual spending power of circa £80bn – and service providers actually turn them away! Getting your own house in order ahead of the crowd can give you a head start in accessing this group. Good practice concerning disability has a whole raft of positive effects on the smallest to the biggest of organisations. All our services will enable you to fulfil and exceed all of you legal and just obligations toward a typically underestimated group of people. nimbus training programme Training Courses nimbus training programmes are based on successful and popular courses pioneered by Disability Direct (you can read more about Disability Direct toward the back of this pack) who have trained organisations such as Job Centre Plus, The Walbrook Group, The Primary Care Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts, The Crown Prosecution Service and many many more. These courses were refined over the years to incorporate changes in legislation and good practice and have now evolved into the courses currently offered by nimbus. Components of each of the training courses are available for whatever length of time is desired and with different emphasis on topics that may be more pertinent to your organisation than others. As such, quotes for in house / tailored training are available on request. Feel free to get in touch and discuss your needs. All courses in the brochure are offered on a ‘per delegate’ basis and are held at the Gateway Centre, Derbyshire Cricket Club, and include buffet lunch (unless otherwise stated / requested) and are also available ‘in house’ for up to 30 people, charges shown in this brochure are per delegate. Reductions are available for charity / community based organisations on request. Disability Equality Training This half day course is a vital starting point for all staff delivering services to the general public: from front line staff to senior management. Delegates on this course will develop an excellent understanding of disability and have their current perceptions challenged and will hopefully leave seeing disability from a truly different perspective. Service delivery to disabled people should improve dramatically following this course The course covers: * The definition of 'Disability' * Terminology * Transport * Personal experiences of social discrimination A full day session is available to increase awareness of issues, which will also include a greater understanding of specific impairments, i.e. for an additional £100 you will benefit from a session around Visual Impairment. In house, tailored sessions are available, prices on request. DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) Training This course would be useful for staff at all levels of an organisation, from front line to senior managers. Understanding the Act itself can go a long way to understanding disability and how to be proactive, supportive and non-discriminatory toward disabled customers and employees. And who better to teach you about it than people who truly understand disabled people and the intricacies of the act? This course has been designed with the ethos ‘prevention is better than the cure’. If your organisation has a good understanding of this vital piece of legislation and your own roles and responsibilities, the logical assumption is that you will be less likely to have legal action brought against you. This is a half day course. There are also several variations of this course available concentrating on different areas of the act: Employment, Service Provision, Education and the newest addition to the Act, The Disability Equality Duty. Prices on request. Employing Disabled People Training This full day course has been designed to provide a decent overview of the issues involved in employing disabled people. Useful for all staff involved in recruitment and selection, supervisory responsibility, HR and senior managers. It covers: * The Business Case & Corporate Social Responsibility: rationale for employing disabled people in terms of the benefit to your organisation and to society as a whole. * Legal Obligations * Recruitment and Selection * Good Practice * Relevant Legislation * Assistive Schemes It is highly recommended, although not necessarily essential, that delegates on this course have already attended our Equality Training. nimbus services Access Audits Disability Direct provides full Disability Audits for anybody wishing to ensure that they have made every attempt to fulfil their obligations under the DDA and for those who want to excel in terms of their accessibility for disabled people. Audits can be performed in a ‘pick and mix’ manner if required, but we would stress that all of the aspects of service listed in the blue box are considered when assessing accessibility under the DDA. Any aspect of any of these factors may inadvertently be discriminatory. At present compensation payments awarded under the DDA are outstripping those under race and sex in growth. A full written report will be produced outlining all aspects of service delivery, recommendations for improvement (including distinction between ‘legal obligation’ and good practice), and suppliers of the goods and services required to implement change. Before conducting an audit we would have a completely free informal visit to the site to explain in detail what would happen and to provide an estimate of costs involved. Quality Marks We believe strongly that all good access and provision of services for disabled people should be recognised, which is why we are administering the nimbus quality mark. We will visit your premises and audit them for accessibility in several key areas and, should you meet a certain standard, award you with the quality mark which you can proudly display on the façade of you building, website and in relevant advertising / promotional materials such as access statements. This will also allow for disabled people to be able to have informed choice about the access arrangements of your service before even seeing the inside, thanks to our online directory of quality marks awarded, therefore giving you a head start on your competition and increasing the confidence of your service users to access your service. Mediation We are able to help resolve, or preferably prevent, any disputes arising from the implementation, or lack of, a reasonable adjustment. We will liaise between you and any employee or service user regarding reasonable adjustments and provide mutually beneficial, fair and reasonable suggestions to both parties on the best solution. This will be achieved by some research into your organisation, impartial discussions with both parties and finally the production of a written report advising you both of the best way forwards. This service will be particularly useful for issues which had become stickier than they need to be, but also ideal for ensuring that the best adjustments possible will be made before any issues arise. We will also advise on any sources of help, be it financial or practical, to assist you in implementing the recommended adjustments and avoiding any kind of formal action. Casework, Representation & Independent Professional Witness If the worst does come to the worst and legal proceedings are initiated by either party, we are able to assist in a variety of ways. We can take over all correspondence with the other party using tried and tested casework systems to ensure that you are able to justify, where possible, any failure to make a reasonable adjustment. If you are able to adequately justify failing to make adjustments then there is no legal recourse available to the other party. This can include presenting any findings and any professional opinions to third parties such as courts or mediators. Remember though, the earlier you contact us the better a chance we have of being able to assist you. Mystery Shopper The ideal starting point for any organisation wanting to assess where they are at the moment in terms of the DDA. Disability Direct will take some details of the service your organisation provides and put it to the test using circumstances that have already made their way to court and been decided as discrimination. We will then prepare a brief report outlining full details of the scenario involved and any outcomes, which will identify a pass or a fail and highlight areas that require improvement, but we will not within the scope of this service be able to provide advice on how to tackle the problem, as very often failures in DDA compliance can be systematic and would require a full access audit. This is a completely confidential service and is ideal for testing out different aspects of you service. NB: This is not an alternative for a full access audit, but may prove a useful justification for a full audit if funding is required from elsewhere in the organisation. Contact Martin for further details and booking. Events Any event opened to the general public, whether a fee is charged or entry is free, will have the same obligations under the DDA as any permanent service provider. Chances are though – organising an event will be done in an unfamiliar venue with event organisers altering the physical environment i.e. adding stalls / tables / display stands, introducing sign posting systems and customer service. The list goes on. Which is where nimbus comes in. We will be involved with as much or as little of the planning process as you need and provide advice and guidance of all aspects of your event to ensure equal participation of disabled people. We will cover the physical environment, publicity, policies and procedures. Not only will this service enable you to meet and exceed your legal obligations, it will open the door to a whole range of people to boost attendance. General Consultation The provision of general and bespoke consultation is for anything that doesn’t fit into any of the other services. If you need help with any of the following: * Disability Equality Schemes o Training and support around the Disability Equality Duty o Help with ‘involving disabled people’ o Facilitating meetings o Tailored training sessions * Writing policies i.e. o Sick V’s Disability Leave o Reasonable Adjustment Policies * Writing access statements * Double checking procedures * Impact assessments * Involvement in Planning processes * Participation / facilitation at meetings for input on disability issues. The structure of our input is entirely up to you – just give us a brief of the assistance you need and we will provide you with an estimate as to cost and time needed. Payroll Service “Your payroll should not be taxing YOU!” Outsource your payroll to a reliable, complete Payroll Service for as little as £10 per month for 6 employees!!!! We offer: * Flexible pay periods * Choice of how you wish to submit & receive your payroll information * Unlimited advice on all pay & employment related matters * Electronic filing of year-end returns so that you received * Government offered incentives (£325 over the next 3 years) * Give you peace of mind that your legal responsibilities as an employer are being met history Who are nimbus? nimbus is a social enterprise born from a charity of and for disabled people, carers and professionals called Disability Direct. You can read more about the background of Disability Direct and the history leading to the birth of nimbus later in this brochure, or by visiting www.disabilitydirect.com nimbus was set up to provide a dedicated consultancy service to professional organisations and service providers concerning all aspects of Disability, The Disability Discrimination Act and general good practice. What is a social enterprise? nimbus is a registered trading company, which, unlike a charity, does trade for profit. This profit (or, more accurately, surplus) is then fed immediately back into the charity in order to maintain services delivered to disabled people themselves. We see this as a virtuous circle addressing the needs of disabled people at all levels and allowing for a professional and streamlined corporate service. Disability Direct… Disability Direct, the beneficiary of nimbus profits, is a well-established, charitable company, which has been operating in Derby city since 1993. They provide information and advice regarding all aspects of Disability, primarily to disabled people directly, current services include Welfare Rights advice and tribunal representation (Specialist Community Legal Service Providers), a Direct Payments Support Service for people hiring their own personal assistants with money from Social Services, Disability Discrimination Act advice and mediation, Advocacy, General Information and Advice. Over the last few years they saw an increase in enquiries from local businesses, service providers and organisations that want to increase their knowledge and understanding of disability. This is in terms of their need for better understanding in general, but also an increase in awareness of their legal obligations and subsequent implications. The services in this brochure have been created as a direct answer to these needs. www.disabilitydirect.com nimbus booking and contact details Booking www.ask-nimbus.com/booking If any of the services in this brochure are of interest to you and you want more information please feel free to use any of the contact methods found toward the end of this pack. Should you wish to take advantage of any of the courses or attend a breakfast briefing you will find either in a flyer with this brochure, or you can obtain printable / emailable copies from the office or the website Simply find the service you want to use and note the booking reference number next to your chosen date and add it to the booking form at the end of the pack. You don’t have to use the booking form, if you would prefer to book using another method just pick any of the contact methods available and get in touch. Payment will be via invoice raised upon receipt of booking payable following the course (a 25% cancellation fee will be charged for non-attendance) Contact Details Martin Austin Care of Disability Direct 227 Normanton Road Derby DE23 6UT Telephone: 01332 299449 Fax: 01332 365055 Minicom: 01332 368585 www.ask-nimbus.com info@ask-nimbus.com ?? ?? ?? ?? 2 3